Zhou Ye was the perfect choice as the FL He Yan, and after watching series like "Word of Honor" and "Back from the Brink," I can safely say that she is not only a versatile actress but that she always takes her roles seriously. She is one of the few actresses I love to watch because I know her performance will be far more seasoned and balanced, and not to mention much more tolerable than the typical C-drama FL.
However, it was Ryan Cheng's performance as Xiao Jue that surprised me the most. Even though I remember him from the series "My Journey to You," he didn't quite leave an impression on me like he did in this series. He was a perfect fit for the role. Not only is he a superb actor, he's stunning to look at, and his aura was convincingly that of a military general.
To be fair, the entire cast did a stellar job. The plot is well put together (with a good balance of humor and suspense), and to say anything less would literally be nitpicking. While it's true that the pacing seemed to suffer a bit near the end (perhaps they were pressed to condense quite a few plot developments within just a few episodes), it was still quite enjoyable, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to pick up a good, solid C-drama in 2025.
The reason I gave it an 8/10 rather than a 9/10 is solely due to the pacing issues near the end.
As a side note (and I digress), every time I spot Bai Shu in a series, I can't help but wonder how the heck he's managed to feature in so many C-dramas within such a short period of time. Somehow, I can't unsee him as Lord Flying Snake from when I watched "Love and Redemption," which makes it so hard for me to take him seriously as a villain (He Ru Fei). He's also been in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," "The Legendary Life of Queen Lau," "The Blood of Youth," "Dashing Youth," "Love of the Divine Tree," and "A Moment but Forever," just to name a few. I'm starting to think that whatever he features in turns to gold.
